Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

01May

I had some people over for lunch last Saturday and I made this Punjabi Kadhi Pakora using a combination of gas and slow cooker. The result was a lip-smacking, finger licking creamy and delicious popular North Indian dish.

INGREDIENTS

For the Kadhi mixture:

1.5 cup sour curd/dahi/yogurt

3 cups water (you may need to add more sometimes)

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

generous pinch of asafoetida

1 to 1.5 tsp salt or add as required

8 tbsp besan or about 40 grams

For the onion pakoras:

2 large long and thinly sliced onions

1 cup besan or gram flour

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ cup yoghurt

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

½ tsp ajwain/carom seeds

⅔ to ¾ tsp salt or add as required

½ bunch of green Fenugreek leaves

¼ cup water

Oil for deep frying the pakoras

For tempering:

1 small to medium onion or ⅓ cup chopped onion

1 tbsp chopped ginger

¾ to 1 tbsp chopped garlic

8-10 fenugreek seeds

½ bunch of fresh fenugreek leaves

2 green chillies chopped

2 red chillies broken

1 tsp cumin seeds

a generous pinch of asafoetida

8 to 10 curry leaves or 1 sprig

2 tbsp mustard oil (or any oil)

Method:

The Curd mixture:

Whisk together yoghurt, gram flour, salt, turmeric, garam masala, red chilli powder. and 3 cups of water till there are no lumps and keep aside.

(NB: Be careful not to over whisk or you will end up with butter instead of buttermilk)

Add the thinly sliced onions and yoghurt and little water to make a paste.

heat oil for deep frying in a deep pan.

With a spoon drop the pakora batter in the oil in batches of 5 or 6.

When the pakoras are partly cooked, then turn over and fry the other side.

Fry till the pakoras are crisp and golden.

Remove the fried pakoras and place them on a kitchen paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed.

NB: These pakoras freeze very well. So you can make a large batch and use a few whenever you want them. (This is what I do 🙂 )

The Kadhi:

In another pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in low heat.

Add the 1 tsp cumin seeds, 8 to 10 methi seeds and a generous pinch of asafoetida. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle and the methi seeds to change their color.

Add chopped onion and sauté for 3 minutes on a low flame.

Add the chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies and fenugreek leaves and sauté for a minute.

Now add the curry leaves, dry red chilies (halved or broken) and sauté for another minute on a low flame.

Add the curd mixture to this and stir very well will the mixture comes to a boil.

Put this mixture into a slow cooker on high heat for a couple of hours.

Turn the switch to “Auto” mode and forget about it for 7-8 hours.

When you come back (from work or the next morning) hot kadhi will be ready! Enjoy this with steamed basmati rice, topped with few teaspoonfuls of ghee! You could also have kadhi with rotis or parathas! Try it, guys… its easier than it looks and delish! Its also packed with the goodness of yoghurt!